Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister has published legislation on cutting pay and pensions, increment freezes and increased hours. I have not had a chance to read the legislation in detail. It seems the Minister has a deal. What is amazing is the tactics. The Minister has the legislation and has a majority in the House to push it through. Workers were asked to engage in an exercise of voting for it but the only positive aspect to come out is the more imaginative proposals suggested by unions not involved at the first stage. That is welcome and it shows their tactics were correct in holding the line and not accepting Croke Park II. They were right to wait for Croke Park III. We will wind up with some workers not accepting the deal. What will happen when one of two nurses unions, SIPTU or the INMO, does not accept it? What will happen in the case? How will it pan out in the workplace and how does the Government see it working out? I see a huge amount of division.

As part of this overall package, 30,000 have left the public sector, which is one tenth of the public sector staff. It is also planned to remove 10,000 more by 2015. That will be a total of 40,000. By OECD standards that will be a very small public sector. There are already huge gaps in it. How does the Minister envisage that working?

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